Veggie Lentil soup may not be the most glamorous of dinners, but it’s a regular on our weeknight dinner rotation and the whole family loves it (even 4 toothed babies can eat it). Bella requests this more than anything else for dinner. Funny 3 year old, I know. 
The weather has been very wintry around here lately; perfect soup weather. It’s pouring rain this weekend, and we had snow on our local mountains last weekend. Yes, snow in Santa Barbara. Now, when there is only snow on the mountains one or two days every few years people get very excited.

 
photo from Edhat.com
We love getting some use out of our rain boots. If someone could get me a pair of these pink Hunter boots in a size 9 that would be great. Thanks.
Never mind, I’ll take these Tory Burch riding/rain boots.
Our friends Victoria & Gwendolyn with a Santa Barbara snowman. 

Okay, back to the soup. See how excited I got about the fun winter weather? I totally forgot about the soup for a minute. This soup is very adaptable, and once again my measurements are just estimations. Feel free to change the vegetables. I often add a bunch of fresh spinach at the end, and trade the potato for zucchini in the summer. I used the cooked lentils from Trader Joe’s and added them at the end.

Vegetable Lentil Soup
Serves 4 to 6

1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 large potato, diced
Herbs* I like fresh thyme and rosemary, about 1 tsp chopped each or dried Herbs of Provence (2 tsp) or a combination of dried oregano, thyme, basil.
4 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock
2 cups dried lentils 
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup fresh spinach (optional) 
grated Parmesan cheese (optional) 

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, celery, potato, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Saute until onions are softened. Add garlic and herbs and saute one minute longer.

Add stock, lentils and tomatoes. Simmer one hour or until the vegetables are softened. Stir in spinach if using. Season with salt and pepper if needed. Serve with Parmesan cheese.

Come join the fun at the My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats Holiday Recipe Swap sponsored by West Bend.” in your blog post.